D slept in more this morning-- we put him down at 7pm and he slept till 6:20. WOOT! Somehow we all tend to gravitate towards a 7pm bedtime, always ending up back at or close to it so I guess that's where it's meant to be. I feel silly admitting it, but I think part of the problem was the poor kid was hot. It's been pretty warm here usually, and hasn't been cooling off at night as it usually does. Last night we dressed him in light pjs and just his light sleep sack, and he slept much better. I know living in California I'm not allowed to complain about the weather, but it's tough knowing how to dress D when at bedtime it can be warm and by 2am it's freezing cold (and our house has really crappy insulation so even with the heater on it still gets pretty cold), and I hate the thought of him getting cold at night. Oh well, will just have to be extra vigilant during these odd back-and-forth weather patterns.
I picked up Baby Singing for Dummies at the library the other day. I feel I need a bit of help and direction. D has picked up certain signs really well-- today we were at Target a bit too close to lunch time and as I walked up the baby food aisle to get him some snacks he recognized some of the Gerber containers and started frantically pointing at them and signing "more" over and over-- but he also seems kind of confused about what they might mean. "More" is pretty good, but he'll sign "all done" right before going in for another bite of his food. And he kinda treats "more" as meaning "food" more than anything, it seems (can't blame him... the concept of "more" is pretty abstract and a tough one to try to explain to a toddler when you think about it).
Today feels like a long day... probably b/c it's been kinda hot and so have been feeling a bit lethargic (whiuch is not allowed when you have a 1yr old btw). I think it got up to low 90s today, I know our thermostat at one point said it was 80 inside the house. The part of me that grew up in Texas wants to laugh at myself for being a wuss (it's ONLY 90, not like it's 102!) but then again not having a/c makes a big difference. I'm also realizing that keeping myself cool is one thing, trying to regulate a toddler and make sure he's not too cold or hot is another and I'm starting to wonder how parents in Texas and other hot climates deal (I guess by staing inside all summer long?).
Does D have any books or toys in his crib? He might not use them straight away but he might eventually figure out that he can amuse himself for a while when he wakes up before he calls to be let out. I used to put a little plastic basket of small board books at one end of the crib.
ReplyDeleteAh, more and all done are used all the time in our house, and not always at the right time, but Finn is getting there! As for the waking up I feel your pain, we used to get 7:30 but lately it has been before 7, and this morning it was 5:50. It is just too early to function!
ReplyDeleteWhen he signs "more," he gets more food. What else is he supposed to think it means? :P
ReplyDeleteIt is a tough concept to teach and grasp. In what other contexts could you used "more" with him? Like, more tickles, more swing time, more times on the slide... maybe that would help him see that it's not "food"? (Or would that just make him want food when you're at the park?)
Word verification: appie. Like an apple, but smaller.
Yeah, I find that I check the weather forecast every morning when I get Mira up so that I know how to dress her. Before I had a baby, I'd just stick my head out the window to determine how to dress myself. Now I'm like, "Hmm... a high in the mid 70's... I guess that means short sleeves and long pants for Mira. Or maybe shorts with socks, but certainly not a sleeveless dress; she'd get cold..." I have entire conversations with myself in the morning about the weather. shrug. Anyway, maybe it would ease your mind if you took a couple minutes to check the overnight lows each night.
ReplyDeleteAs far as signing, personally I think that the most important thing is that he feels like he is able to communicate with you and not necessarily that he is getting everything right.
You are living in Southern California in a place with our air-conditioning?
ReplyDeleteAre ya nuts?